President Trump: Making America Great Again...

[PaloAltoCougar]

So there absolutely not an illegal immigration problem.. Thank you, Nancy.

There is an illegal immigration problem.

It has existed for decades and has not suddenly become a crisis or national emergency.

A large majority of those currently in the country without proper documentation ("illegal immigrants") arrived here by means other than crossing the Mexican border illegally.

Building a multi-billion dollar wall will reduce somewhat the number of those crossing illegally, although many of those deterred by the Mexican border wall will find other means of entry.

Spending many billions to build a wall in the hinterlands to achieve a modest reduction in the number of undocumenteds (which has been declining in recent years), while not addressing comprehensive immigration reform (including increased quotas for qualified people, granting amnesty to most Dreamers, etc.), is dumb.

[myboynoah]

There is an illegal immigration problem.

It has existed for decades and has not suddenly become a crisis or national emergency.

A large majority of those currently in the country without proper documentation ("illegal immigrants") arrived here by means other than crossing the Mexican border illegally.

Building a multi-billion dollar wall will reduce somewhat the number of those crossing illegally, although many of those deterred by the Mexican border wall will find other means of entry.

Spending many billions to build a wall in the hinterlands to achieve a modest reduction in the number of undocumenteds (which has been declining in recent years), while not addressing comprehensive immigration reform (including increased quotas for qualified people, granting amnesty to most Dreamers, etc.), is dumb.

I don't understand why UT keeps suggesting that Dems don't care about illegal immigration. Of course they do and they are happy to allocate funds in that direction. Reasonable people agree that something needs to be done. A wall spanning from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, upon which the Dump campaigned and for which he promised Mexico would pay, is not the solution (as you have noted).

The Dump should just go out and get Mexico to pay and build his stupid wall. That makes the most sense. Then we can open the government and get moving forward on real issues.

[Uncle Ted]

There is an illegal immigration problem.

It has existed for decades and has not suddenly become a crisis or national emergency.

A large majority of those currently in the country without proper documentation ("illegal immigrants") arrived here by means other than crossing the Mexican border illegally.

Building a multi-billion dollar wall will reduce somewhat the number of those crossing illegally, although many of those deterred by the Mexican border wall will find other means of entry.

Spending many billions to build a wall in the hinterlands to achieve a modest reduction in the number of undocumenteds (which has been declining in recent years), while not addressing comprehensive immigration reform (including increased quotas for qualified people, granting amnesty to most Dreamers, etc.), is dumb.

OK, what has the dems proposed doing about it? Anything? Why don't they propose doing *something* other than expanding the border wall? I haven't seen any proposals from the Dems and only Nancy Pelosi saying that it is immoral to try to stop illegal immigration. Dems seem to only want to create sanctuaries for illegal immigrates. Where are their proposals for solutions to this problem? I haven't seen any of them lift a finger about this problem. If they really believe that a wall is the wrong approach they should be offering alternate solutions. Nancy Pelosi only contribution is saying that it is immoral to try to stop illegal immigration and your Governor Newsom promising to provide sanctuaries. That is not solving the problem. Clearly they don't believe there is an illegal immigration problem.

I don't think building a multi-billion dollar wall will reduce the problem significantly. However, if it lights a fire under congress's collective butts to actually do something about the problem then so be it. To really take a bite out of illegal immigration then the incentives to be an illegal immigrant need to be removed or at least significantly reduced, IMO. Until that happens it is not going to reduce the problem significantly and force those that want to migrate to the US to do it legally.

If California wants to be a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants then let the tax payers of your state flip the cost for that and open the southern gates. They could even consider changing the name of the state to New Venezuela or something. God bless the people of California for flipping the entire bill to provide these people a means of escaping the poor economic conditions of their socialist countries and giving them a place to go.

[Uncle Ted]

I don't understand why UT keeps suggesting that Dems don't care about illegal immigration. Of course they do and they are happy to allocate funds in that direction. Reasonable people agree that something needs to be done. A wall spanning from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, upon which the Dump campaigned and for which he promised Mexico would pay, is not the solution (as you have noted).

The Dump should just go out and get Mexico to pay and build his stupid wall. That makes the most sense. Then we can open the government and get moving forward on real issues.

Please give me the proposals that the Dems have offered to solve the illegal immigration problem. Something more than agreeing something (yes something) needs to be done. Please let's hear what that "something" is. The Dems haven't given us a damn thing other than saying that stopping illegal immigration is immoral (thanks Nancy) and offer "sanctuaries to all who seek it" (thanks Gov Newsom). All the Dems can do is bitch about anything that Drumpf does and offer no real solutions. They seem to all have their heads up their asses and say their isn't a problem. And that we should be offering illegal immigrates more incentives (e.g., offer them sanctuaries) to come.

Maybe Drumpf should keep the government shut down until congress can get its sh*t together and actually do something about the problem. So far what the Dems have proposed will only make the problem worse. So if the Dems actually care about illegal immigration what are their proposals to actually solve the problem? Links please.

[PaloAltoCougar]

OK, what has the dems proposed doing about it? Anything? ...

I am not now, nor have I have been, a Democrat so don't look to me for a defense of their inaction in the past. Since this is a Trump thread, I was focusing on our current President who, as one might have guessed, I regard as a wholly unqualified dimwit (but brilliant self-marketer).

[BlueK]

This supposed illegal immigration "crisis" is fake news.

Way more illegal immigrants entered legally and have over-stayed their visas.

And most of the people in that group are Canadians.

[Uncle Ted]

This supposed illegal immigration "crisis" is fake news.

Way more illegal immigrants entered legally and have over-stayed their visas.

And most of the people in that group are Canadians.

Was that true of the 2014 American immigration "crisis" as well? Or was that an actual crisis? That one only claimed 46,900 unaccompanied minors.

[Uncle Ted]

OK, time for the fact check...

Fact check: Number of women sexually assaulted on trip to border


CLAIM: The president claimed one in three women have been sexually assaulted traveling to the border.
FACT CHECK: Between 60 percent and 80 percent of female migrants traveling through Mexico are raped along the way, Amnesty International estimates.

http://archive.vn/SmnCf#selection-1237.0-1249.1

I knew Drumpf was lying!

[BlueK]

Was that true of the 2014 American immigration "crisis" as well? Or was that an actual crisis? That one only claimed 46,900 unaccompanied minors.

You're talking to a Libertarian. Of course I think that one was also fake news.

[Uncle Ted]

The Dems just further embarrassed themselves... WaPo agrees:

Trump won the night. Schumer and Pelosi lost.

President Trump did something Tuesday night that he has rarely done since taking office: He used the presidential bully pulpit to reach beyond his hardcore base of supporters to make his case to the American people as a whole.

Speaking from the Oval Office for the first time during his presidency, Trump embraced our country’s tradition as a nation of immigrants, declaring “America proudly welcomes millions of lawful immigrants who enrich our society and contribute to our nation.” He then offered a cogent explanation why he believes we face what he called “a humanitarian crisis — a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul” along our southern border.

He pointed out the human cost of our broken system to illegal migrants themselves, expressing compassion for the “children [who] are used as human pawns by vicious coyotes and ruthless gangs” and the “women [who] are sexually assaulted on the dangerous trek up through Mexico.” He shared heartbreaking stories of Americans killed by criminal aliens who had no right to be here — including a police officer in California who was murdered, a 16-year-old girl who was brutally stabbed in Maryland, and an Air Force veteran who was raped and beaten to death.

“I’ve held the hands of the weeping mothers and embraced the grief-stricken fathers,” Trump declared. “I will never forget the pain in their eyes, the tremble in their voices, or the sadness gripping their souls.”

And he laid out his solution, which he explained was “developed by law enforcement professionals and border agents” and includes funds for cutting-edge technology, more border agents, more immigration judges, more bed space and medical support — and $5.7 billion for a “physical barrier” that he called “just common sense.” Without naming her, Trump responded to the absurd charge from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that a wall is “immoral.” Democrats voted repeatedly for physical barriers until he was elected president, he noted. If a wall is immoral, Trump asked, “why do wealthy politicians build walls, fences and gates around their homes? They don’t build walls because they hate the people on the outside, but because they love the people on the inside.”

The president did not unilaterally declare a national emergency. Instead, he called for compromise and said, “To those who refuse to compromise in the name of border security, I would ask: imagine if it was your child, your husband, or your wife, whose life was so cruelly shattered and totally broken?”

He was, in short, presidential.

Democrats insisted on equal time, which is highly unusual for presidential addresses other than the State of the Union. It was a mistake. In contrast to Trump, Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) came across as small and intransigent.

While Trump spoke calmly and rationally from behind the Resolute Desk, the Democratic leaders accused him of “pounding the table” and having a “temper tantrum.” While Trump told human stories, they complained about process. They accused him of arguing that the women and children at the border were “a security threat” when he had just explained to the American people that they were victims, too. They charged him with using the “backdrop of the Oval Office to manufacture a crisis, stoke fear and divert attention from the turmoil in his administration.” They were partisan and petty, while Trump came across as reasonable and even compassionate.

To normal Americans watching in the heartland, and who are not steeped in Trump hatred, the president must have seemed like the adult in the room.

And, most important, Pelosi and Schumer failed to use the one word that millions of Americans were longing to hear — compromise. But Trump did. That is why the president won the night. Schumer and Pelosi appealed to their base, while Trump made an effective appeal to persuadable Americans.

Until now, Trump has owned the 18-day government shutdown that prompted this address, because he’s the one who started it. But if Democrats continue to attack him, and won’t entertain any compromise, soon the shutdown will be all theirs — because they’re the ones who have refused to end it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...=.771161d7b986

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[Commando]

I think the Democratic response was fine. "Look we all know Trump's a liar and the wall is unnecessary. Border security is important but you don't do it building a wall from The Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, morons."

[Sullyute]

We're in good hands.


https://twitter.com/politvidchannel/...DZCWGGfOQwwQMQ

“I know more than anyone about it... [reads from paper] it’s called devaluation.” LOL.

[Uncle Ted]

I think the Democratic response was fine. "Look we all know Trump's a liar and the wall is unnecessary. Border security is important but you don't do it building a wall from The Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, morons."

Sure it was fine... for a couple of angry parents.

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[Scott R Nelson]

He was, in short, presidential.

I think this is the first time I've actually felt that Trump was presidential. I still don't agree with him, but this was a pleasant change in behavior for him.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I think this is the first time I've actually felt that Trump was presidential. I still don't agree with him, but this was a pleasant change in behavior for him.

Trump isn't horrible as long as he's reading something that has been written by others. It's when he goes off script and says/tweets things that he reveals himself as a vacuous phony. He frequently criticized Obama for using a teleprompter; it would help a lot if he did the same.

I wonder what he thinks of this speech now: